Another Option
by Secret-Pass-Time
Summary: Straying ever closer to roofs, sometimes running along them, he found himself looking down into an alley from the roof where a vibrant red bow and a shining gold bell-the cause of his curiosity-were attached to the tail of a tiny black kitten.


Ichigo had finally found something humanizing about him, finally found an indication of who he truly was, finally found potential evidence that he was wearing a figurative mask, and he had to go and ruin it. Yes he'd kept her safe, but the life he had saved was made miserable for his own sick pleasure, something he could smirk at. After all Shirogane had put her through, Ichigo finally thought she understood, after hearing about all that had happened to his parents and to him personally, she truly believed she knew why he acted the was he did, even telling him so, then he had to ruin everything in a single movement.

He used the fate he had forced upon her against her, kissed her, turning her into her cat form and calling her an idiot, on the verge of laughing all the while. Keiichiro had offered his help in the form of another kiss to turn her back, but when her teammates fell through the door they had apparently been listening through, Ichigo leapt from his arms, over the girls and sprinted past Shirogane and straight out the door. After being pushed for so long, the constant work, fighting and Shirogane's cruel taunts and actions, she wanted nothing more than to be alone for just a while to cool off.

She found herself in an alley after several hours of running around, nothing appearing to be familiar from her tiny height, signs far too high up to read and added to the mix was the fact that the sun was going down. Soon enough, the moon's tiny amount of silver light was the only thing allowing her to see infront of her. Panicked sobs racked through her, a tiny kitten in such a large city may never be found, if the mews were even looking. What if Shirogane had told them to wait until she returned on her own? But she couldn't return if she didn't even know where she was!

The alley was decently long with a dead end which Ichigo curled up against, huddled into an old newspaper, desperately trying to fight against the cold. Shivering and crying out for help, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Kisshu was allowing himself to drift over the world with the wind, looking for anything to entertain his easily bored mind when he heard it. A bell. What an odd sound to hear in the dead of night, too late for anyone to be walking around. He looked around for a bicycle or anything else obvious which could have caused the sound. Nothing was moving, but still he heard the quiet jingling. He gave a little shrug before gliding off, ignoring the sound.

* * *

The next morning, Ichigo awoke to rain. Lots of it. She jumped up on her already soaked paws and ran under a large dumpster lurking with her in the alley, hiding in the few inches between the bottom and the ground. Thunder and lightning cracked across the grey sky, leaving her shaking once again. She prayed that the storm would stop soon, she'd no chance of being found under a dumpster and she'd have no way of accessing food or drink from there either, though the vile smell was enough to make her appetite run for the hills. Still, she could already feel her legs weak from the lack of nourishment and her mouth dry from lack of water.

She curled up again, this time in amount the only insulation she had against the freezing weather, candy wrappers. Some stuck in her fur, but it was that or freeze to death. She let out a soft mew in the vain hope that someone would be walking around in the pouring rain and be able to her the tiny sound over the rain and thunder.

Once again, it was night and still the rain continued. She had considered running through it, but where to? She still had no idea where she was. She had also considered trying to sift through the trash in the dumpster to find something to eat, but somehow, she knew she'd never make it up the steep slippery surface of it. She gave another hopeless mew into the night, one more little cry for help before she allowed herself to give in and accept that this would be another night in the alley.

* * *

Kisshu found himself in the same area he had the night before, lingering curiosity for the bell. He had doubted he'd hear it again, but it rang out, most likely unheard by humans with their inferior hearing, so he followed it. Straying ever closer to roofs, sometimes running along them, he found himself looking down into an alley from the roof where a vibrant red bow and a shining gold bell-the cause of his curiosity-were attached to a tail just barely peeking out from a dumpster. His inquisitive nature took over and he found himself coming ever closer to the ground, focusing on the red satin ribbon dampened by the rain. Whatever it was, he must have frightened it, because the red ribbon and the tail attached to it disappeared under the dumpster and by the sounds of the bell, the owner was shaking as he drew closer. He knelt down, ignoring the bad smell and the puddles as well as the feeling of cold rain hitting his back.

He gasped as he peered under the dumpster. A tiny black kitten was curled up, shaking and obviously weak in a pile of trash. What surprised him more was the obvious identity of the kitten, his kitten.

"Honey, what are you doing under there?" He flopped down onto the ground on his stomach so he could see her better. She gave a weak, yet defiant, little squeak.

"You look like you're in a pretty bad situation right now." He stated softly, reaching out a hand under the dumpster. Ichigo made a move to run away, but a clap of thunder resonated through the air and she found herself jumping straight towards Kisshu despite her hatred.

He secured his fingers around her tiny body, ignoring the sticky residue left on her fur from whatever had been in the packets she'd been laying in. He instantly regretted ignoring her bell the night before. She tried to fight against him, but in her tiny form and starved state, she could do very little as he lifted her out into the rain towards himself. She shrieked as the cold rain struck her, every drop so much larger to her now, and couldn't even find it in herself to be angry when he tucked her up under his chin, against the warmth of his neck.

"What do we do now, kitten?" He questioned, more to himself than her, though her adorable squeak was a wonderful reply. "I can't take you to your base, the mews would kill me before I explained...We can't go to you're house with you like this...I suppose...Maybe we could..." The fingers of the hand not holding her up were currently running through his hair as he thought.

"I can't just leave you here, though no doubt that's what you want me to do..." She couldn't bear to reply, she loathed the idea that it was Kisshu she was currently clinging to for dear life-literally-but he was, at the moment, her only hope for survival.

"I know!" He suddenly exclaimed. "I'll take you home with me!" He paid no attention to Ichigo's incredulous expression as he teleported them both away


End file.
